The Baltimore Ravens had to replace the concussed Joe Flacco in the 2nd quarter with Ryan Mallett due to a frightening hit he took when sliding for a 1st down.

Before the hit that took Flacco out of the game with a concussion, he was playing better than the last couple weeks as he threw for 101 passing yards and went 10/15 with a nice touchdown to Jeremy Maclin in the 1st quarter. After Kiko Alonso hit Flacco, Mallett had to step in and capped off a nice drive with a passing touchdown to Benjamin Watson as Mallett relied mostly on the run game for the rest of the game without any turnovers. Flacco was not cleared later in the game from concussion protocol and had stitches for his ear injury that occurred during the hit. He will have to rest up on an extended week as the Ravens will need Flacco in Week 9 against the Tennessee Titans. If the Ravens want a chance for any sort of wildcard/ playoff push in 2017, they will need Flacco as they are close with the 2-4 Cincinnati Bengals at 4-4 with the Pittsburgh Steelers leading the AFC North at 5-2.

Both Jeremy Maclin and Breshad Perriman were active tonight after missing the last 2 weeks with injuries.

Maclin was the main receiver for the Ravens as he was the only wide receiver with a catch against the Dolphins. He had 3 catches for 53 yards and a touchdown as Perriman was not on the stat sheet this week. Maclin was dealing with a shoulder injury after the Oakland Raiders game in Week 5 and Perriman suffered a concussion in the Bears game in Week 6. The Ravens utilized their tight ends and running backs more as there was a lack of receivers due to injuries. Marty Mornhinweg involved Nick Boyle and Benjamin Watson as well as Alex Collins getting his first catches as a Baltimore Raven. I think with the extended week before the Titans game in Week 9, the Ravens should get back Mike Wallace (Concussion) and Michael Campanaro (Shoulder).

Alex Collins had his 1st breakout game as he is the 1st Baltimore Ravens running back to rush over 100 yards this season.

The run game heavily relied on due to the Flacco injury but Collins showed some flashes as he eclipsed 15 carries for the 1st time this season with the Ravens. He rushed for 118 yards with 18 carries as Javorius Allen was still involved with 17 carries and 55 rushing yards. Collins has still yet to run for a touchdown and while both running backs are in a committee in Baltimore, I envision Collins being the main back with Allen as the receiver on 3rd downs and the alternate to Collins. Ever since Collins fixed his fumbling issue after Week 4, he has got more carries and has not fumbled since then. The offensive line also created a lot of holes for the run game as they got back Matt Skura from a knee injury suffered in Week 5. The Ravens offensive line had their hands full with a bolstered Dolphins defensive line and held up good enough even though the pressure did get there a few times.

The Ravens pressured Matt Moore and blitzed him often as the defense flustered him for most of the game. As for Jay Ajayi, the Ravens run defense contained him all night.

Even though the Ravens did not get many sacks by the main pass rushers like Terrell Suggs and Matt Judon, they still got the job with the pressure they sent on multiple occasions to harass Moore all night. Rookie Tyus Bowser and Anthony Levine Jr. both had a sack each while C.J. Mosely and Za’Darius Smith had half a sack. The dead last ranked Ravens run defense improved greatly the past couple weeks and shut down Jay Ajayi for almost the whole game. Getting Brandon Williams back last week and Carl Davis back for this game made a big difference, as Ajayi only had 23 rushing yards on 13 carries. Laremy Tunsil was active even though he was dealing with an ankle injury and with Anthony Steen out, Jesse Davis had to step in and the whole Dolphins offensive line struggled overall.

Both interceptions returned for touchdowns by C.J. Mosely and Jimmy Smith were big defensive stands as the Ravens tackled well throughout the game, especially the safeties and linebackers.

Jimmy Smith was still dealing with a lingering Achilles injury but still had a pick six and had 3 pass deflections. The rest of the cornerbacks did enough and the linebackers/safeties were also a big reason the Dolphins run game was limited severely. Tony Jefferson and Ladarius Webb were also highlighted on defense as well as Brandon Carr, who led the team with 7 tackles. Rookie Marlon Humphery also rotated with Smith and had a pass deflection as he is getting more snaps each week on the outside. Patrick Onwuasor also contributed as well as Mosely as tone setters in this game. They limited Jarvis Landry to only 33 receiving yards on 5 catches and Kenny Stills with 5 catches for 65 yards as the deep threat on the outside Moore was trying to throw to late in the game. With Devante Parker out with an ankle injury, Leonte Carroo stepped in on the outside with 6 catches for 48 yards but most of the game was dink and dunk for Moore and the Dolphins passing game. And finally, Justin Tucker was consistent again as he kicked a few field goals, one being a 55 yarder, but also had a kick blocked even though it did not impact the outcome of the game at the end.